Bagdad sources claim Ayatollah Kazem Haeri’s recent “fatwa” exhorting Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to vote in favor of outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was issued at the request of the head of the Qods Force, General Qassem Soleimani. Ayatollah Haeri lives in Qom and his fatwa is all the more binding as it had been issued “in consultation” with Iran’s Wali Faqih, Ayatollah Khamenei.
Sources say Ayatollah Khamenei had the intention of issuing the pro Maliki “fatwa” himself, but was warned such a blatant intervention in the formation of the new Iraqi government could have negative repercussions in Iraq.
Sources link Teheran’s strong stand in favor of Nouri al-Maliki to pledges he, presumably, made to Iran, some of which could violate Iraqi sovereignty.
Maliki, sources claim, has pledged to protect two Iraqi armed factions trained and funded by Tehran: “Leagues of the Righteous” (Asaib al haq) and “Hezbollah Iraq.” Both factions had split from the Muqtada Sadr movement after his decision to dissolve the military arm of the “Sadrist Current”, the so-called the “Mehdi Army”. The “Leagues” were probably behind the kidnapping of two Britons from within a government body two years ago. Sources claim Iraqi authorities did not detain any member of the group as it enjoyed the protection of the prime minister’s Security Service.
Sources claim Prime Minister Maliki was behind information claiming Muqtada al-Sadr was behind many acts of terrorism, noting Sadr disclaimers of perpetrators of such acts. “Salam al-Maliki,” who served as deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transportation in the government of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, is one of the leaders of the “League of the Righteous” and enjoys close relations with Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
More significant, Bagdad sources claim Maliki made the pledge of not renewing the “Security Agreement with the United States” once expired and of not making any request to keep US soldiers in Iraq after the 2011 deadline set by President Barack Obama.
Maliki, sources add, had agreed to link Iraq’s Arab relations to Arab states relations with Teheran. This would confer a blackmailing power to Teheran and would enhance its influence in Arab countries.
Sistani marginalized
Noting Teheran’s aversion to Ayatollah Sistani’s role in Iraqi politics, sources claim Maliki pledged to “marginalize” the “Najaf School” (Hawzat al Najaf), keeping it to a social and strictly religious role. Maliki would, also, seek the weakening of the “Islamic Supreme Council”, the “Daawa Party”, as well as some bourgeois religious families, including the “al-Hakim” family which does not enjoy Teheran’s trust.
Finally, sources say that al-Maliki and his aides, including his son, are no strangers to big business deals with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Maliki has vowed to keep on Iranian imports into Iraq notwithstanding their poor quality standards.